


sooner or laser

by montygreenbean (bottomoftheocean)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Laser Tag, Nostalgia, i kind of hate myself for the title pun tbh, murphy hates laser tag but he likes raven, murven - Freeform, raven and clarke are competitive little shits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 00:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17335187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottomoftheocean/pseuds/montygreenbean
Summary: Murphy has never really liked laser tag, but somehow the gang (Raven) convinces him to go with them for one last hurrah before the local establishment closes its doors. (He really just can't say no to Raven.)-or, Raven takes the laser tag competition a bit too seriously and then there's feelings.





	sooner or laser

**Author's Note:**

> hey all!  
> it's been a bit since i've written anything, but i kept coming across this one tumblr post and really i just did what had to be done for the sake of murven.
> 
> as always, characters belong to kass morgan and the cw.  
> i thank them for writing these two lovely characters <3
> 
> hope you enjoy!

Murphy trailed behind the rest of his friends as they approached the building. The rest of them were ecstatic, whereas he was still unsure why he had agreed to come to _ laser tag, _ of all things. He’d never been a huge fan, even as a kid, and was decidedly the opposite of excited when Monty had brought it up at movie night a few nights prior.

“We should all go!” he’d proclaimed after reading the article saying the local roller rink, and thus the laser tag venue inside the roller rink, would be closing in a few short months. “You know, for old time’s sake, and all that.” 

The entire group had then reminisced about all the ‘good times’ they’d had at the roller rink as kids, while Murphy simply listened in, not really willing or even able to participate. He’d never liked laser tag, and had never been good at roller skating, nor had many friends who’d ever have invited him to do either. 

Initially, Murphy tried to opt out of the planning, letting them go without him––they would probably have more fun anyway––but here he was, at the roller rink, almost fully against his will. He would have stood his ground if it weren’t for the way that Raven had draped herself over his lap, dramatically begging and saying she would have absolutely  _ no  _ fun if she couldn’t shoot lasers at his “dumb scowling ass” the whole time. 

Murphy purposely did not think about the way his body had reacted to her laying across him, and purposely did not think about the way her eyes had lit up when he agreed. She was was his best friend––his best friend, that was all, and he was definitely, totally okay with that––and the only reason he even became a member of this friend group at all, so who would he have been to deny her?

He spared a look at Raven as they paid their way inside and walked over to the laser tag room, and was immediately struck by the childlike awe he could see even just from her profile. She, along with several of the others, was clearly very excited to relive some childhood fun and really, if everyone else was going to have so much fun, why could he not at least try and enjoy himself too? So he plastered a smile on his face as the attendant helped him fasten the gear to himself, and walked into the dark room knowing that it was probably for the best that he couldn’t see Raven’s face since she was on the opposing team.

Bellamy looked over to him, genuine apprehension in his eyes. “They put Clarke on the other team. Wish me luck,” he said, eliciting a laugh from Murphy.

“If you get luck for dealing with Clarke, I’d better get some for dealing with Raven,” he replied with a pat on Bellamy’s chest.

Bellamy grinned, the blacklight causing his teeth to look purple. “At least she’s not your girlfriend. I have to sleep in the same bed with Clarke after this.” Murphy just shrugged, unable to come up with an appropriate response. 

The loudspeaker began to count down from ten, signalling the start of the game. He took a deep breath, just hoping he could somehow manage to enjoy this stupid game.

\- - -

As the game neared its end, Murphy knew his team was dwindling. Clarke had sneaked up on Bellamy and tagged him out almost immediately. Harper surrendered herself when Monty was at risk of being shot at by Raven, and then the other girl ended up tagging both of them anyway. The only person left on his team was Jasper’s girlfriend, Maya, but she was not terribly aggressive and likely wouldn’t last if she had to square up against Clarke or Raven. 

His competitive side had kicked in about halfway through the game, and he found himself hiding out, wanting to be the last one and beat everyone else who remained on the other team. He’d sat in the corner and waited for people to find him, and in his strategy had managed to tag out both Miller and Jasper. He didn’t know who was left besides Raven and Clarke, but he was determined to win for his team.

That is, until Raven appeared. She rounded the corner and he could just hear her say “Well, what do we have here?” over the blaring music. “Has someone been hiding out this whole time?”

“You know me, always blending into the background,” Murphy quipped, though they both knew those words were far from the truth.

She came closer, and he suddenly couldn’t move his gun, even though it would have been so easy to just tag her and be done with it. “You’ve sure been doing a good job of it today, at least,” she said.

“Something about this stupid game brought out the competition in me, I suppose,” he said in return, though he was honestly surprised he could come up with much to say at all due to her proximity.

“Why don’t we blend in a little more?” Raven replied, and before he could even attempt to comprehend what she meant by that, her lips were on his and one of her hands wrapped around his bicep, tugging him closer.

Murphy froze, unsure of anything that was happening in this moment. Was Raven really kissing him, or was he having some sort of laser tag-induced hallucination? If this was real,  _ why _ did she pick this moment to act on her feelings? He mind was reeling and he couldn’t keep up with any of the thoughts except for one:  _ Kiss her back, you dumbass.  _ And so he did, threading a hand through her hair and sighing into it, letting himself have this, even if it was just a weird dream.

But only a moment later, she pulled away. Still only inches away from his mouth, she whispered, “Gotcha, sucker,” and then his gear lit up bright green, rendering him out of the game. Raven cackled loudly as she practically skipped away, as much as her leg brace would allow her to.

Murphy trudged out of the corner and over to where the rest of the tagged group sat, confused and disappointed in himself for falling for her trick so easily. Obviously she didn’t  _ actually  _ want to kiss him, she just did what she thought she had to do to win. And it had worked like a charm.

Maya, of course, was already over there when he arrived, meaning that the game was over. His whole team groaned, knowing they’d lost, and when Raven and Clarke came whooping out of the room, the other three members of their team congratulated them.

Murphy found himself with a sudden burst of anger towards his best friend, but tried to hold back as much as he could when he walked over to the celebrating group and said, “Hey Reyes, what the fuck?”

The group stopped, and Raven looked over at him with wide eyes, almost as though she had no idea what had happened. It only made him angrier.

His hands curled into fists of their own volition, nails digging slightly into his palms. “You can’t just–” he started to stay, spluttering both with his anger and with the realization that everyone would hear his accusation if he said it here. So he paused, instead grabbing hold of her wrist and dragging her off somewhere they would not be overheard. She made a sound in protest but went along anyway.

“You can’t just fucking  _ kiss  _ me like that, out of nowhere, and then run away and pretend it didn’t happen, Raven!” he cried once they were out of earshot of the others. “That’s not how laser tag works– no, that’s not how anything fucking works!”

Raven raised an eyebrow. “And why exactly did you need to drag me away, still in all this ridiculous laser tag gear, to say that?”

Murphy levels her with a look, and the near-smirk falls from her face. “I think you know exactly why and it pisses me off that you’d take advantage of my stupid crush on you just to win a game of fucking laser tag.”

Her eyes went wide again, but this time in clear surprise. “Take advantage of… what? Murphy, no. I had no idea at all, I was just fucking around. I didn’t think––”

“Right. You didn’t think,” Murphy said resignedly. “You didn’t think about anything besides the stupid laser tag game that I didn’t even want to come to in the first place. I only came here because you wanted me to, Raven. I couldn’t let you down.”

“Goddamn, I’m literally the biggest idiot,” she breathed, and at Murphy’s confused expression, continued, “I had no idea you liked me too. Yeah, in there I was mostly just fucking around, but I wanted there to be  _ something  _ that I could just… I dunno, use to get over you? It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud and now I realize it just  _ was  _ stupid, and now you’re mad at me…”

The way she looked up at him then melted away any last iota of his anger and frustration. He softened immediately and reached over to grab her hand again. She smiled softly, and when he leaned down to kiss her again, this time under the bright, fluorescent lights, all their friends (who had of course been watching the entire exchange) cheered. 

Yeah, maybe laser tag wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked this cute lil fic!
> 
> as always, please leave kudos+comments if you did! i love to hear feedback from readers, especially given that this ship has such a small following (can you hear my begging for more murven shippers bc it's happening).
> 
> much love!  
> ~ mikki :)


End file.
